Well- we made it! Over eight days and 1000 miles— our first family of four road trip/major vacation was by all accounts a success. We used a ticket system as a game for Cohen on the ride down (an idea I found online that Jacob actually put into reality). Every half hour Cohen would have to give us a ticket and receive a prize (an apple bar, his orange juice, his “binoculars/ aka 2 toilet paper tubes”etc.) When he was out of tickets, he knew we would be arriving at our destination! Seriously– all those corny road trip games and songs actually WORK with a two year old! Who would have thought?

One of the best moments of the trip was when we first got to our hotel on the beach. I threw open the curtains to reveal the view of the waves and sandy shores, and Cohn exclaimed: “I’m exciting!!” (instead of I’m Excited! or How Exciting!) Another new word he’s made up is, “Perficle” (icle as in “particle”) whenever he sees something he likes. Three days were spent at the beach… Sophie loved crawling toward the water while Cohen was more apprehensive. Jacob and Cohen caught a crab they named Rascal. We went to the aquarium and several restaurants.

One night early in the trip we tried a restaurant in town after a long day with not enough naptime…. Cohen was extremely overtired and refused to sit in a chair and had one of the biggest tantrums he’s ever had. After he calmed down (a little) I explained to Cohen that we had to leave the restaurant because he was not behaving. Cohen didn’t forget this night for the rest of the trip, and proceeded to tell us whenever we would enter the car: “It’s okay. We go out now. I’m have-ing (long “e”). He makes it impossible to be mad too long.

Excited to be home and getting ready for Sophie’s first birthday! TIME FLIES!